Piano-action.



No. 668,424). Patented Feb. I9, I90I.

M. STEINERT. PlANo AcTldN.

[Application led Oct. 2, 1900.1

Tm: Norms PETERS or. PNoYLlTuo.. WASHINGTON. D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MORRIS STEINERT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

-PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 668,424, datedFebruary 19, 1901.

Application filed October 2, 1900.

To ir/ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Monnis STEINEET, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Im provementinPiano-Actions and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the numerals of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure l, a viewin side elevation of a pianoaction constructed inaccordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a broken perspective View showingthe fork-like stop mounted in the fly.

Myinvention relates to an improvement in pianoforte-actions, the objectsbeing to eli minate the harshness,violence, and limited tonal rangecharacteristic of the present pianoforte and due to the fact that it ispreminently an instrument of percussion, to permit the production ingreat variation of power and tone color of softvor whispering tones byperformers who can bring to the instrument no more than ordinarytechnical training, and to make the instrument less mechanical and moremusical by applying the force exerted by the performer less dynamicallyand in a way more analogous to the use of the joints and muscles of thearms, wrists, and hands in playing stringed instruments with a bow. Inshort, my invention aims to secure more intimate control of theinstrument throughout its entire range of tone production without lossor substantial loss of power or responsiveness.

With these ends in View my invention consists in a pianoforte-actionhaving certain details of construction and combinations of parts, aswill be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown the key 2 is provided witha regulating-screw 3, coacting with a cushioned buffer 4, depending fromthe lower face of the forward end of a fly 5, the rear end of which ispivotally connected with a butt 6, secured to and depending from ahammer-rail 7, mounted in the usual manner in skeleton metalaction-frames S, of which one is shown. At its extreme forward end thesaid iiy is formed with a vertical slot 9 for the reception Serial No.31,770. (No model.)

of the lower end of a jack 10, which is pivoted in Athe said slot andthe upper end of which coacts with an impact-shoulder ll and a beveledoperatingace l2, `formed upon the rear end of a balance-lever I3,pivotally mounted in a butt I4, secured to and projecting upwardly froma' hammer -lever rail l5, also mounted in the frame 8 and in othercorresponding frames. (Not shown.) The said impact-shoulder ll andoperating-face l2 are covered in the usual manner by a strip 13a of feltor equivalent material. The upper end of the jack coacts also with acushion 15a, located directly to the rear of the shoulder 1l and placedin a large notch 16, formed iu the rear end of the balance-lever 13. Thejack l0 is formed at itslowerend witha forwardlyprojecting arm 16,having a knob-like end 17 coacting with a 'felted regulating-screw 18,mounted in a regulating-screw rail 19, also supported in theaction-frame 8. The jack itself carries a horizontally-arrangedregulating or stop screw 20, coacting with a verticallyarrangedfork-shaped stop 2l, mounted upon the upper face of the forward end ofthe y 5, as veryclearly shown in Fig. 2. A spiral spring 22, attached tothe upper face of the iiy 5 and connected, through the crotch of thefork 2l, with the jack, exerts aconstant effort to draw the samerearward, so as to bring its upper end into registration with theimpactshoulder ll of the ham mer-lever. This spring is extended when thepiano is played by the coaction of the upper end ofthe fiy with theoperating-face l2 of the balance-lever; but the engagement of the buffer23 of the stop-screw 2O with the rear face of the fork 2l prevents thejack from being thrown too far forward or so far forward as to undulyextend the spring 22. The rear end of the balance-lever is formed with anose 24, formed with a slot 25, which extends forward into the body ofthe lever and which is constricted or allowed to open, as may benecessary, by means of a screw 26, passed downward through areinforcing-plate 27, located upon the upper face of the forward end ofthe said hammer-lever. The edges of the nose 24 are felted by means of astrip 28 of felt, which also extends into the slot 25, though notthroughout the length of the same. The felted portion of this slotreceives a pin 29, located in the rear end of the IOO hammer-lever 30,which is pivotally mounted in a butt 3l, secured to and project-ingabove the hammer-rail 7, before mentioned. lt will be understood, ofcourse, that the slot 25 permits the pin 29 to move back and forth init, so as to form, in a sense, a loose articulation between thebalance-lever and the hammerlever.

At its forward end the hammer-lever is provided with a hammer-head 32,furnished with a cushion 33, which strikes the string. My action is alsoprovided with the usual hammer-rest rail Sal and back-check 35, thesenot requiring particular description. The hammer-rest rail 3l isprovided with a rail or ledge 36, furnished with a regulating-screw 37for each of the keys 2.

lu the operation of my improved piano-action the depression of the key 2causes the jack to be pushed or lifted against the impactshoulder ll ofthe balance-lever 13, the forward end of which is correspondinglylifted, while its rear end is depressed, with the effect ofcorrespondingly depressing the forward end of the hammer-lever andlifting the rear end of the hammer-lever, which causes the impingementof the hammer proper against its string, which is excited in vibrationin quite a dilferent and far more musical way than if the hammer hadbeen sent flying through the air and virtually hurled against it by thedirect transmission of the power applied to the key to it instead of theindirect transmission of such power to it through the articulated systemrepresented in my improved action by the jack, balance-lever, and

hammer-lever and their connections. After the initial impulse of thejack upon the impact-shoulder, as described above, the jack begins toimmediately move outward and forward over the beveled operating-face l2of the balance-lever, which it supports in such a position that thehammer proper is supported in a position of close proximity to thestring. ln this position of the hammer the key may be operated through avery short stroke, so as to cause the hammer to strike the key again andagain, not of course as powerfully as when the hammer was first impingedagainst the string, but in such a way as to excite the string in theproduction of soft pure tones, which may be beautifully colored at thewill of the performer. On the other hand, if the key is entirelyreleased directly after the impingement of the hammer upon the stringthe jack is immediately returned to its normal position under theimpact-shoulder of t he balance-lever. When the key is so released, myimproved action may be said to escape with substantially the quicknessand absoluteness of pianoforte-actions now in use; but when the key isnot so released, the hammer proper may, as aforesaid, be held up in aposition of close proximity to the string, from which position it may beoperated to produce a variety of beautiful tonal eects not before withinthe range of performers except those of the highest virtu osity. In myimproved construction the application of the power, though indirect, issufficiently forcible to produce tonal volume practically up to thelimit of the instrument without the production of those disturbingovertones which so mar the effect of the present piano when played withpower, not to say with violence. The impingement of the hammer u pon thestring due to the indirect application of power eliminates the shock andnoise and harshness of the action of the present pianoforte and confersupon my instrument the power of producing all tones,from the softestwhispering tones to tones ofthe fullest power. My instrument alsoenables crescendo and diminuendo effects to be produced with equalperfection throughout its entire range, in which it also has the qualityof perfect repetition. The touch of the instrumentis light, so elasticas to enable the player to connect his'notes in a beautiful legato,while the escapement of the action permits the customary absoluterelease of the hammer or a gradual release of the hammer at the will ofthe performer. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of theaction, however, lies in its ability to be used in the production ofpure and carrying whispering tones, which may be produced in infinitevariety of quality and color,well qualifying' the instrument to be usedin the interpretation of compositions of a personal and intimatecharactersuch, for instance, as those of Chopin. I may with proprietycompare my improved piano-action, so far as it is articulated for anindirect application of power applied by the performer, to thearticulated construction of the arm,wrist,and fingers of the handthrough which the performer indirectly applies power to the keys. Thepresence of corresponding articulations in the action itself impartsthereto such elasticity and mobility that the performer is enabled toimpose upon the instrument a large part of his own feeling and toproduce a rapport between himself and his instrument necessary to amusical result. Such a rapport, except in a very limited extent,cannotexist between the performer and the present pianoforte for the reasonthat the same is a pure instrument of percussion, in which the controlof the performer over the hammer is so fugitive that he cannot color thetone produced except he have at his command an amount of techniquetaking him out of the class of the average performer.

Having fully described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a piano-action, the combination with a key, of a hammer-rail, afly connected at its rear end to the said rail, a jack mounted in theforward end of the fly, a balance-lever having its forward end formedfor coaction with the upper end of the jack, and ahammerlever pivotallyconnected with the hammerrail and having its forwardly-projecting endIOO articulated with the rearwardly-extending end of the balance-lever.

2. In a piano-action, the combination with a key, of a hammer-rail, afly connected at its rear end to the said hammer rail, a jack mounted inthe forward end of the liy, a balance-leverhavingits forward end formedwith an im pact-shoulder and an operating-face for eoaction with theupper end of the jack, and a ham mer-lever pivotally connected with thehammer-rail and having its forwardly-projeoting` end articulated withthe rearwardlyextending end of the balaneedever.

3. In a piano-action, the combination with a key, of a hammer-rail, afly connected at its rear end to the said rail, a jack mounted in theforward end of the fly, a balancedever adapted at its forward end tocoaet with the upper end of the jack, a hammer-lever oon nectod with thebalance-lever, a regulatingscrew carried by the j aok, and a stopmounted upon the forward end of the fly, and eoaetiug with the saidregulating-screw for limiting the outward or forward movement of thejack with respect to the forward end of the balance-lever.

4. In a piano-action, the combination with a key, of a ham mer-rail, ady connected therewith and operated by the key, a jack mounted in theforward end of the iy, a ham mer-lever,- and a balance-lever connectedwith the hammer-lever and having its forward end yprovided with abeveled operating face over which the upper end of the jack movesoutward or forward in the operation of the action.

5. In a piano-action, 'the combination with a key, of a hammer-rail, a yconnected at its rear end to the said rail, a jack mounted in' MORRISSTEIN ERT.

Witnesses:

FREDERIC C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELSEY.

